·The standard deduction
for heads of household rises by $50 to $9,350.

Social Security
Wage Base:

The 2017 social security wage base
is $127,200; up $8,700 from the current base of $118,500.

The rate does not change. It will
still be 6.2% for employees and 6.2% for employees. The maximum tax that
can be deducted in 2017 is $7,886.70. That is $539.40 up from last
year.

The Medicare rate remains 1.45 percent for both employees and employers and
there is no wage limit. The Additional Medicare Tax still kicks in at $125,000
for married filing separately, $200,000 for single and all other taxpayers and
$250,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly; the rate remains 0.9% paid by
the employee only.

Standard deduction:

The personal exemption remains at $4,050.

The standard deduction for single taxpayers
and married taxpayers filing separately rises by $50 to $6,350.

The standard deduction for married taxpayers
filing joint returns rises by $100 to $12,700.

The standard deduction for heads of household
rises by $50 to $9,350.

2017 Income Tax Brackets

Income
tax bracket adjustments for tax year 2017 were issued on Oct. 25 by
the IRS in Revenue
Procedure 2016-55. The level of income that is subject to a higher tax bracket
can influence a number of decisions by employees, including how much
salary to defer into a traditional 401(k) plan, which reduces taxable
income for a given year by the amount contributed, or whether to
participate in a nonqualified deferred income plan, if that option is
available through the employer.

A
comparison of income tax rates and ranges for 2017 and 2016 follows below.

Single Filing Individual Return (other
than surviving spouses and heads of households)

Tax Rate

2017 Taxable Income

2016 Taxable Income

10%

$0 – $9,325

$0 – $9,275

15%

$9,326 – $37,950

$9,276 – $37,650

25%

$37,951 – $91,900

$37,651 – $91,150

28%

$91,901 – $191,650

$91,151 – $190,150

33%

$191,651 – $416,700

$190,151 – $413,350

35%

$416,701 – $418,400

$413,351 – $415,050

39.6%

$418,401+

$415,051+

Married Filing Jointly (and
surviving spouse)

Tax Rate

2017 Taxable Income

2016 Taxable Income

10%

$0 - $18,650

$0 – $18,550

15%

$18,651 – $75,900

$18,551 – $75,300

25%

$75,901 – $153,100

$75,301 – $151,900

28%

$153,101 – $233,350

$151,901 – $231,450

33%

$233,351 – $416,700

$231,451 – $413,350

35%

$416,701 – $470,700

$413,351 – $466,950

39.6%

$470,701+

$466,951+

Married Filing Separate Returns

Tax Rate

2017 Taxable Income

2016 Taxable Income

10%

$0 – $9,325

$0 – $9,275

15%

$9,326 – $37,950

$9,276 – $37,650

25%

$37,951 – $76,550

$37,651 – $75,950

28%

$76,551 – $116,675

$75,951 – $115,725

33%

$116,676 – $208,350

$115,726 – $206,675

35%

$208,351 – $235,350

$206,676 – $233,475

39.6%

$235,351+

233,476+

Heads of Households

Tax Rate

2017 Taxable Income

2016 Taxable Income

10%

$0 – $13,350

$0 – $13,250

15%

$13,351 – $50,800

$13,251 – $50,400

25%

$50,801 – $131,200

$50,401 – $130,150

28%

$131,201 – $212,500

$130,151 – $210,800

33%

$212,501 – $416,700

$210,801 – $413,350

35%

$416,701 – $444,550

$413,351 – $441,000

39.6%

$444,551+

$441,001+

Minimum
Salary:

The
DOL has approved the following:

Effective Date: December
1, 2016.

Minimum Salary: $913 per
week, or $47,476 annually. This is slightly less than the $970 per week
($50,440 annually) originally proposed, but still more than double the current
$455 per week.

Bonuses and Commissions May
Now Be Included: In a somewhat surprising concession to employers, the new rules
will allow non-discretionary bonuses, incentive payments and commissions to
count for up to 10% of the minimum salary, provided these amounts are paid at
least quarterly.

Highly Compensated
Employees: The minimum salary for employees exempt under the “highly
compensated” employee exemption will increase to $134,004 from $100,000.

Automatic Updates: The new
minimum salary levels will not update automatically every year as originally
proposed, but they will be adjusted every three years beginning January 1,
2020. The salary level will be pegged to the 40th percentile of full-time
salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region. For 2020, the DOL estimates
that the minimum will go up to $51,168. The minimum for highly compensated
employees will be tied to the 90th percentile of full-time salaried workers in
the lowest-wage Census region, which the DOL estimates will be $147,524 in
2020.

Duties Tests: The new
rule contains no changes to the existing duties tests.